


Running from Love

by CaptainBrieOnToast



Series: The Running [to/from] Love series [1]
Category: Marvel (Comics), Runaways (Comics), Wolverine and the X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alone, Apparently I'm the only one who ships Molly and Logan, BAMF Molly, Confused Molly Hayes, F/M, Molly isn't a kid anymore, Runaway Molly, She just has to work some shit out, She's awesome but also confused, and kinda scared, essentially, it's cool
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-11 08:37:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11144829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainBrieOnToast/pseuds/CaptainBrieOnToast
Summary: It's been years since Molly was a kid with the Runaways and now all she has is Deadpool. Her one goal in life is to help people and stay away from Wolverine and the X-Men, but soon an old foe comes back, endangering the ones she loves and forcing her to once again acquaint herself with Wolverine. All rights belong to Marvel!





	1. Emma Frost

It had been years since Molly Hayes had been a runaway. Years since she last saw all those familiar faces, and years since she had realized that she would have to do the one thing that being a runaway was all about. Growing up. It was hard at first. She was all alone with nowhere to go. She could have gone to the X-Men but... Wolverine...

She never really knew what to think about him. She knew so little... She had always wanted to marry Wolverine as a little kid, up until she had actually met him. Then she hated him. Funny how things work out. Honestly Wolverine had never been very mean to her.

Actually, he was pretty nice and caring, considering his reputation. He only ever scared her a few times and then after that she had been more than sour towards him. Even though he had actually been a great fatherly figure in her life. He was always there it seemed when she really wanted someone to mess with or just be there. Her parents had never been like that to her and even though Wolverine tended to be worlds away Molly always watched the news, anxious to hear about the crazy things that Wolverine was doing, and (if she was honest to herself) to make sure that he never died. Yes, he had regeneration as a power but that didn't make him invincible.

That was probably why she hated him so much at the moment. He kept getting himself so close to death that it made her want to kill him herself. But that was no matter. She would never go see him in her time of need.

Besides she had Deadpool and he wasn't all that bad. He was a great fighter, and didn't make bad company. But he never acted like he needed any help, or anyone to talk to. He tended to keep to himself in his bipolar-ness and sometimes he killed people he shouldn't have but he was Deadpool.

He listens to no one but himself and has no trouble killing people. He isn't a super hero and he isn't a super villain either. That's whats always confused Molly. She could usually tell the super villains from the super heroes, by if they kill or not but Deadpool, he kills some people and lets others live.

But he was still good company. He never questioned Molly and he let her do as she wished. Sometimes she missed having someone around who cared about her though.

"NOBODY CALLS THE RUNAWAYS STUPID KIDS," Molly screamed, throwing a punch at the bad guy who was being extremely talkative. The guy flew, right into the police truck, and the cops scrambled to arrest the guy. Molly sighed pushing back her long brown hair. Another bad guy taken down, another day.

"Mrs. Molly Hayes," a voice said from behind Molly, and she swung around, fists held in front of her like a fighting stance. That was a voice she wouldn't ever forget. It gave her the biggest headache of her life. Molly dropped her fists.

"Emma Frost," she replied coldly. She didn't like seeing her again. She was usually all telepathic happy and was constantly reading her thoughts. It annoyed Molly beyond all ends. She kind of hoped Emma could read her thoughts right that second so that she could hear all the terrible things Molly was thinking about her.

"The X-Men need you," was all Emma said, and Molly turned away frowning largely.

"No. No. No. No. No. I am never going back there," Molly protested instantly, shaking her head, but inside her stomach was being attacked by butterflies. Wolverine. But she can't. Not at this age. She can't trust herself to not do something stupid at this age. When she was younger she had an excuse. She was a kid. But at this age, there was no excuses. So stay away from the X-Men, and stay away from the Wolverine.

"But we need you Molly. It's an old enemy of yours and you are the only one who can stop him," Emma continued, following Molly as she stormed away. Molly began to walk away faster but was stopped by Emma holding her in her place telepathically.

"Why don't you just send Wolverine to do it?" Molly asked, angrily. Thrashing under Emma's telepathic hold. "He is better than me at it and I just want to be left ALONE!" Molly screamed. She once again thrashed under Emma's hold but she got nowhere.

"Molly, I know how you feel about-" Emma started softly.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Molly screamed again, just wanting to get away from Emma. "AND STOP READING MY THOUGHTS!" Emma Frost really made Molly mad. She could feel hear her old temper flooding back into her mind and the old feelings that came with it came as well. It ached, because those thoughts came with names that Molly would rather not think about at the moment. Emma tried to say something but Molly was too busy screaming and fighting back and in her rage she couldn't hear anything. The most distracting was Molly's glowing eyes and the feeling that she could destroy anything. Like all of Manhattan. That sounded really good.

'Wolverine has been captured' Emma's voice said in Molly's head. That calmed Molly down.

"That mission that we want you to go on, Wolverine went on it first and he was captured," Emma clarified. Molly didn't know what to think. If Wolverine couldn't complete the mission, how could she. But someone had hurt Wolverine.

_Her Wolverine_

No one messes with Molly Hayes friends and super secret crushes ever.

"Who?" That was all Molly said and that was all she had to say. Her biggest problem was that she thought she was prepared for the answer.

"Alex Wilder." At that Emma released her hold on Molly and Molly fell forward, barely catching herself before she face planted.

Alex was back.


	2. The Warehouse

"He can't be. That's not him. It's a shape shifter. That's not Alex. It isn't. It isn't," Molly rambled, feeling like a little kid again.

Tears began flooding into her eyes reminding her of a time where an old enemy of her parents had captured her and Wolverine. He had said her parents were horrible, terrible people that just killed whoever they wanted too.

That broke Molly to pieces.

Luckily Wolverine had been there to give her a hand. Or a claw if you would like to say. He saved her, and proved to her that he was a hero. He also convinced her that her parents may have been bad but they must have still been pretty good to have raised a daughter as good as her.

No matter what, Molly would save Wolverine.

Carefully, Molly wiped away her tears, not wanting to look weak in front of Emma.

"Molly you know that is Alex," Emma replied, softly and she did.

 "I know.." Molly answered, still trying to gather herself, and become less of the pitiful ball of emotion she had turned into for a little bit there. "Where is he? What's the plan?" Molly asked, now she sounded more confident, like the world could throw anything at her and she would take it with one huge punch.

"He is in an abandoned warehouse not far from here. We don't have eyes on the inside but one the outside we have people constantly surveying the area," Emma replied turning her attention to the screen. She clicked a few buttons on it and then, up came a picture of an abandoned warehouse.

 "Is that the place?" Molly asked. She knew it must be, but what does it hurt to ask?

"Yes." Emma replied. "Are you sure you can do this?" Molly nodded. Sure why not. She had done crazier things. Like punch Ultron.

That hurt.

But this will be nothing. In out. Capture, destroy. Smash.

Hulk would be proud.

Molly Smash. Princess Powerful smash.

Molly snorted.

She hadn't called herself Princess Powerful in a while... It probably wasn't a good idea to bring that aspect of her life back.

 "It won't be hard. Just give me the address and I will be there to save Wolverine," Molly answered excitedly. This was one of her first rescuing missions in forever. With Deadpool her missions were more destroy and kidnap then anything else.

"You aren't going alone though," Emma said skillfully, pulling on her white gloves with a royalness to the way she spoke.

"Yes I am," Molly answered coldly.

She knew what Emma was about to do. Try to get her to bring the X-Men along. She didn't need to be a telepath to know that.

"A rescue mission will always work better alone, and if the X-Men could do it you would have sent them instead of me." Emma regarded Molly silently, as if seeing if Molly would storm out or stay till the end of the debate. Either way Emma knew that Molly wasn't going in with a team.

"Fine." Emma printed out a piece of paper and gave it to Molly.

The address.

With that Molly flashed her a smile and ran out of the room. She dodged people in the halls cunningly earning weird looks, but she didn't really care.

These people didn't know her, and never would know her if Molly got what she wanted.

She exited the Institute and ran down the street, watching as the cars zoomed by almost as fast as she was running.

She was excited. A feeling she hadn't really experienced since she had been with the Runaways.

Those years were the most amazing years of her life. Fighting bad guys was her pride and joy. It was what she was good at and it was the most fun she had ever had. Sure Deadpool was okay company, and they did do some pretty cool things, but nothing amounted to the thrill of knowing that you were doing something good for no reason at all.

Molly might leave Deadpool, and be a solo hero but... But... _How could she when it would just end up with her being alone_.

That was her weakness. Abandonment issues.

She couldn't stand the idea of being alone. Sure she was saving Wolverine all alone but she still had someone to go back to and that was enough for her.

Molly turned down a road and ran right up to the looming warehouse. It was pretty hard to miss. Huge and brick walled. It looked ordinary enough, but Molly knew looks were extremely deceiving. She ran up to the building, looking the wall up and down. Now just to get in..

'There is a vent just above your head. It will get you into the building' Emma's voice said in her head, and Molly growled.

"Why can't I just go in the front door?" Molly asked stubbornly, placing a hand on the door knob. There was no answer, and so Molly stuck her nose up in the air and pulled upon the door.

She immediately realized what a bad idea this had been.

_Go in the front door of a major evil mans warehouse. Next let's go and lay naked in Ultron's bed. Because why not go get yourself killed in an instant?_

Molly groaned as the door creaked open and stuck her head into the hallway.

Completely empty. Not counting the cobwebs hanging from the crevices and the heavy dust filling the air. Some of the lights were on, shining bright, but others were dim, flickering or not working at all.

 It was pretty creepy. Molly felt fear clench her heart and her breath hitched in her.

Not excited anymore.

"Okay. Breath," Molly muttered, forcing herself to enter the hallway, and close the door behind her. It closed with a muffled squeak and let Molly feeling very unsure of herself. She was going to get herself killed.

Slowly, Molly took one step. Then another. Then another. Faster and faster. Steadier and Steadier. Less shaky and more confident. Until she was walking down the hall without a care in the world. She same up to an intersection, that led down a hall with a few doors.

She heard the familiar noise of Wolverine growling and she instantly knew that he was in one of these cells. With that thought in her head Molly turned and raced down the hallway, following the noise.


	3. Wolverine

Molly got to the last cell door at the end of the hallway, and instead of using the virtue she had with the last few doors Molly ripped the large metal door off its hinges and threw it against the wall. It hit the wall with a dull thud that echoed down the hallway. Not her best idea. Now Alex would know she was here.

She had to save Wolverine and she had to do it now. She gazed into the room, the smell of cold metal filling her nostrils and the sight of blood filled her eyes. In the middle of the mess was Wolverine. He was on his knees, head hanging forward, and his arms stretched out behind his back, the only thing keeping him from falling was a pair of chains attached to the wall. It hurt Molly to see Wolverine like this, but she knew not to let that ruin her escape.

His hair was ruffled, sticking out in crazy ways the blood dripping from the ceiling sticking in Wolverine's hair like hair gel. Focus, focus, focus. She had to focus. Molly raced forward, using her super strength to rip the metal chains from his bruised wrists.

The minute he was released from the chains Wolverine fell forward, barely keeping himself from slamming face first into the ground. He held himself there panting quietly, as if breathing for the first time in years. Molly would have let him just sit there and catch his breath but Alex would be there any moment and they didn't have time for breaks.

"Get up you big oaf. We have to go," Molly instructed, ignoring the lump growing in her throat.

She really didn't want to make him get up he could be in pain. Molly watched as at the sound of her voice Wolverine lifted his head up, at startling speed. Then he was in front of her, his warm breath tickling her cheeks. She could feel her hormones dancing as she recognized the close proximity of the two but she pushed it down. Now was not the time to be a girl.

"Who are you?" He asked, glaring down at her with an intensity that scared her. Molly tried to look confident on the outside, as if she wasn't bothered by him, but she was bothered by him.

"Doesn't matter," Molly replied with a shrug, trying to stay casual.

"But we have to leave before Alex gets here," she warned, backing away from Wolverine slowly, as he grew closer and closer to her.

It made sense that he didn't recognize her. It had been years since she had last seen Wolverine, thanks to her fantastic avoiding skills and Molly had grown up a lot.

Her hair was longer and better keep, she wore mainly black clothes instead of the colorful mismatched outfits she used to wear, her body was more muscular than it used to be, she was much taller and skinnier, and her wonderful communicative skills weren't as good as they used to be. She was at lot less open and bubbly than she had been she was younger.

 "Who. Are. _You_." Wolverine demanded, punctuating each word.

Suddenly Molly felt her back hit the hard wall behind her, stopping the attempts she had been making to keep away from him.

He placed his hands on Molly's shoulders, pushing her hard against the wall with surprising strength. He must be healing now. When Molly didn't answer right away, Wolverine balled one of his hands and placed a knuckle just in front of Molly's neck. He allowed his claws to come out of his knuckle just a little bit, pricking Molly's neck.

"I'm not asking again," he grunted, giving Molly the idea that if she wanted to live she should probably just tell him who she was.

"It's me. Molly. Molly Hayes," she answered finally, gasping as she tried to move away from the claws that were just penetrating the skin on her neck, causing little droplets of blood to drip down her neck.

Wolverine loosened his grip on Molly at that, quickly retracting his claws.

Molly breathed in deeply, realized that death was no longer imminent and pulled her arms up close against her chest, almost as if she thought it would keep her safe from anything. Wolverine instantly grabbed her wrists, wrapping his fingers tightly around them.

Molly looked away from Wolverine, staring pointedly at a spot on the ground afraid that any moment she would do something stupid like kiss him.

"You shouldn't be here," Wolverine said, his voice going abnormally low. Molly decided it would be best to pretend she hadn't heard him.

"We have to go. Alex will be here soon," Molly replied. She knew there was no point in struggling against him, or using her super strength against him. He wouldn't come until he wanted to come and Molly really didn't want to drag him.

"Who?" Wolverine asked, obviously not knowing his enemy by name.

"Alex. The kid you went after. He used to be a Runaway, like me."

Just saying the words hurt.

"He was evil though, working to help The Pride, our evil parents organization the whole time. He tried to get Nico to join him but she wouldn't go for it. I know that hurt him a bit. He loved her. He lied to her the whole time yet he still loved her."

She chuckled lightly at the irony of that.

"Love really is a funny thing."

Her voice got quiet as she said that last part and she couldn't resist the urge to glance at Wolverine as she said it. Molly instantly regretted the decision as he was staring at her intently. Listening to her every word as if he actually cared about what she said. No body ever did that.

It was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her.

She instantly dropped her eyes again.

"We thought Alex was dead but guess not right? And I'm when I came here I accidentally made a lot of noise when getting into the cell."

She was talking way too fast now.

"All the other Runaways are gone and we were the only ones to really go against Alex so I'm the only one who knows how to defeat him. Which I honestly don-" Molly was suddenly cut off by Wolverine leaning forward and kissing her deeply, startling her. That made her lose her train of thought.

_Where was she? Who was she? What's even happening?_

Wolverine pulled away, placing his forehead on hers as she looked at him surprised.

"I- Wh- Mh- E- Y-" Molly stuttered. What was she supposed to say? Her brain wasn't really working right.

"You talk too much," Wolverine chuckled in reply. Suddenly, Molly's brain reminded her how talking works, and that she needed to reply to this statement.

"This is the first time I've talked to anyone in a long time. Deadpool really only talks to himself," she admitted, her cheeks growing warm. Was that the right thing to say? Why were her cheeks warm? Or right blushing. Quietly Molly urged her brain to work. Now was not the time to be as stupid as jelly. Alex would be here any moment.

"How sweet," a sickening voice said, cutting through Molly's incoherent thoughts. "I guess that love always works out."

Of course.

Alex.

Molly felt her breath catch in her throat and fear grab at her heart. It was one thing to see someone who was supposed to be dead on a tv screen but in real-life it was much more heart wrecking. She felt Wolverine tighten his grip on Molly subconsciously and she looked up at him before pulling away and facing Alex.

"What do you want Alex?" Molly asked, putting on the bravest face she could manage. Dead, he was supposed to be dead. She tried to pretend she was just on another mission with Deadpool. When she was out with him she never cared if she lived or died, as long as Deadpool was alive because she couldn't bear to lose another friend.

"Molly, Molly, Molly," Alex chided, a mischievous smile growing on his face. A face that should be dead. His brown eyes peered straight into hers and his brown skin looked black in the eery dark of the cell. Even his hair seemed different, instead of his Afro of black hair looking friendly like Einsteins, it seemed more like he was a mad scientist. "You've grown up so much."

At this Alex walked up to Molly, lightly running a hand over her pale face. Molly shivered, pulling away from him in response.

"Don't touch me Alex. You lost the right to pretend like you care about me a long time ago," she spat, crossing her arms across her chest defiantly.

"Oh Molly. Look at you. You are so grown up. No more animal hats and it looks like you've learned how to dress now. Your clothes actually match. You even have a little boy friend," Alex mused, he glanced back at Wolverine before sweeping his eyes over her body and pausing at a place that wasn't her eyes. "And I can see why.."

Molly shifted uncomfortably under Alex's gaze and looked back at Wolverine who was being oddly quiet. He was standing completely still, staring aimlessly into space.

"What did you do to him?" Molly growled, turning back to Alex with a fierce glare. Something didn't feel right..

"Me?" Alex asked, placing a hand over his heart in fake innocence. Molly intensified her glare and he chuckled. "Your friend is fine. I just have temporary control over him and he will completely forget everything that happened after he left Xavier's Institute."

As the words sunk in Molly realized the meaning and significance of the words.

Wolverine wouldn't remember any of this.

Getting captured, seeing her after all these years, and... Other events.

Molly swallowed hard, feeling anger begin to overtake her. Alex had messed with her and her friends one too many times. First he lied to them for months. Then he broke Nico's heart. It was all his fault that their parents and Gert were dead and now this?

Molly wasn't sure what to say but she could feel the beginning stages of her super strength beginning to course through her veins, and she knew that now was the time to stall.

"Why?" She asked looking down at the ground, a tear falling from her eye, and Alex walked up to her placing a hand under her chin, lifting it up to make her look at him.

"Because of this. You care too much about others. The Runaways softened you Molly. Deadpool's made you cold, that's how you need to be."

When she didn't answer he continued his speech.

"I know how you feel about Wolverine. I know you love him."

Molly couldn't help but wonder if it was that obvious that she had that sort of feelings for Wolverine. The telepath, she understood but Alex?

"Love is weakness. I don't love you. Your parents never loved you. The Runaways never loved you. And Wolverine doesn't love you."

Molly sniffled, her anger reignited as she thought over his words. She really hoped that he was happy because he really struck home this time.

"You think you know so much about the Runaways?" Molly asked, her eyes beginning to glow. "Then you know to never mess with a Runaway."

With that Molly punched Alex as hard as she could. Alex flew back, slamming into the wall in the hallway just above the door she had thrown earlier. He weakly lifted his head.

 "Wolverine. E-Eject," Alex gasped, before falling into a meaningless heap. Molly knew he wasn't dead, just unconscious.

 She also knew that she shouldn't just stand around because then Alex might regain consciousness and capture her as well as Wolverine. That would make for a really bad rescue mission.

Molly quickly turned and looked over at Wolverine who was lying on the ground.

Now she had to carry him no matter what.

Molly ran over to him, not bothering to see if he was dead or alive or just unconscious. It didn't matter. She was taking Wolverine with her no matter what.

Molly grunted lightly as she hauled Wolverine onto her shoulders. She stood there a second, adjusting to the weight of him and his metal bones, looking around as she did. She found herself facing a sleek black security camera.

It's red light was blinking, meaning 'on' so everything that had happened in this room had been recording. With that in her mind and the fact that Wolverine wouldn't remember any of this, Molly raced out of the room and down the creepy halls.

She could come back for Alex another time. Now was the time to get Wolverine back to the Institute. Just as she was almost to the exit Molly spotted the door that she was looking for.

The Security Room.

Molly changed courses walking into the room quietly, she dropped Wolverine at the door. Molly walked in slightly awestruck as she states at all the computer monitors. She knew not hang around long but... Molly skimmed the monitors before her eyes fell on a cd dispenser marked 'memory'.

"Ah-ha!" Molly exclaimed, with a triumphant smile.

She ran over to the dispenser, clicking the eject button and grabbing the cd that was revealed at the press of the button. Carefully she took a necklace chain from her pocket, putting the city around it and putting the new piece of jewelry around her neck.

Then she ran back outside, finding Wolverine lying exactly where she has left him.

Breathing out in relief Molly picked Wolverine back up, ran out of the building.


	4. The Infirmary

"How is he?" Molly asked softly, turning to look at Emma Frost. Emma turned away from Wolverine's body and looked at Molly.

"He will be fine," Emma promised, smiling lightly. It almost made Molly feel like a kid again, to be so clearly lied to. To be looked in the eyes and told that someone would be fine when the person delievering the news really didn't know if they would or not. When the person delivering the news just wanted to make Molly feel better. "He will be waking soon."

Molly nodded, going with what Emma had said and looked over at Wolverine. His chest rose and fell slightly, and Molly turned her eyes to Wolverine's face taking in how uncharacteristically calm it was. Molly slowly stepped closer to the bed and set a hand on Wolverine's chest. Just to make sure he was actually breathing.

He was.

She moved her hand from his chest to his left hand. She lightly held his hand in hers, rubbing a thumb over the little hairs on the back of it.

"Then I'd better be leaving," Molly stated. She dropped Wolverine's hand and began to move away from the bed and towards the door, but Emma followed hot on her trail.

"You know that you don't have to leave," Emma started and it gave Molly a bad feeling in her stomach. A feeling that Emma would continue to try to make her stay, and that she would succeed in making her do so. "You could stay in one of the rooms and we don't have to tell him."

'Yep I was right,' Molly thought sourly, running a hand through her hair.

"We could put you on a seperate team then him. He's hardly around anyways he will never know."

Molly ignored her, feeling something tug at the back of her mind relentlessly. Wanting her to remember something as she walked out of the infirmary briskily. Emma went on, words that Molly didn't quite comprehend crowding her mind until finally, _finally_ , Emma got to the end of her rant.

"Join the X-Men Molly."

"I don't belong with the X-Men, Emma Frost," Molly stated firmly. "I'm a Runaway. Not a super hero. And I need to get back to Deadpool."

Molly firmly believed the words coming out of her mouth and would have elaborated further but suddenly she began to sway. Her brain clouded and her eyes started to get fuzzy. She felt light-headed, needed to sit, to get on the ground. It was getting darker, she was gonna faint she could feel it. Exhaustion flooded to her, and her breathing began to decrease rapidly.

She hit the wall softly, and gripped at it, feeling Emma try to help her. She just barely pushed Emma off of her before she fell to the floor and blackness overtook her.

* * *

Molly blinked and light flooded her vision. It took her eyes a moment to adjust, and then the pure bright light faded away and a person came into view. It was Emma Frrost. Her lips were moving, she was talking to someone that Molly wasn't sure if she knew or not.

She heard Emma say something about someone just being asleep, before Molly saw the blackness take her sight from her again.

* * *

Blackness still overwhelmed Molly's sight, but that didn't stop Molly from being able to hear what was going on around her. Molly focused on her hearing, pleased to find that she could hear two people in the vicinity, breathing softly at either side of her bed.

"Will she be okay?" One of the people asked. Molly instantly recognized the deep rough voice. It belonged to the one and only Wolverine.

"She's simply sleeping as I have told you before," the other person replied. Emma Frost.

There was a moment of silence and Molly could feel the dark claims of sleep, trying to overtake her again.

"Who is she?" Wolverine asked, his voice wavering.

"She wouldn't want you to know," Emma answered quietly and at that exact moment Molly fell unconscious again.

* * *

Molly woke up for the third time, feeling well rested. She didn't know how long she had been asleep but after that rest she felt prettty good. She sat up and shook her head clear of sleep, staring around the infirmary she had been laid to rest in. The room was barrain, completely empty of any living souls, but Molly figured it wouldn't be like that for long

She needed to get back to Deadpool and out of here before anyone could stop her.

Molly stood up, just barely remembering the cd hanging around her neck. She removed the small disk from her neck and dropped it on the bed, scribbling on the disk 'For the X-Men'. The X-Men would want to see the information on the disk and they deserved to know what had happened in the building.

Molly would plan her final attack on Alex later, after some hard long thinking. That's how the Runaways would have done it and that is how Molly would do it.

Quietly, Molly snuck out of the infirmary, feet softly tapping the ground as she moved down the empty corridors. It was pretty easy from there on. There was almost nobody in the mansion surprisingly. Molly had expected to need to blend in with the crowd or something but there were no issues. She figured most everyone must be out or something.

She was nearly out of the mansion, when she heard someone call after her.

"Leaving so soon? Without so much as a goodbye? I don't think so bub."

Molly froze, all the muscles in her body tensing as she turned around to face the person who called after her. It was  Wolverine. Of course, and in his hands he was nursing a glass bottle with Dr. Pepper in it.

"I have places to be," Molly answered coldly, glaring at Wolverine stiffly.

"You are tough," Wolverine observed, leaning against the wall he was standing by. In retaliation, Molly crossed her own arms.

"Learned from the best."

"Did you now?" Wolverine asked, seeming to read between the lines. "So we've met before?"  
Molly shook her head, giving Wolverine a sly smile.

"Never met you before in my life."  
Wolverine stared at her, not believing a word of it, but also not wanting to scare her away. They stood like that for a few minutes, simply staring at each other. Molly began to feel her sudden confidence melt away and she slowly began to step backwards, making her way away from Wolverine.

"Good bye Wolverine," she said in farewell, and with that raced out of the Institute, hoping that Wolverine wouldn't follow her as she ran back to where she stayed with Deadpool.


	5. Hideout

"Molls! After our last mission you went missing and you know I can't go anywhere without my hot sidekick," Deadpool babbled perkily. Molly laughed as she settled back in her colorful bean bag chair. She got the bean bag while she was still with the Runaways. It had been a gift from Karoline, and was one of the few things she still had from when she was with them.

"Sorry Deadpool. I had some personal manners to attend to."

He didn't ask for any more. He instead sent her a smile and began to talk to himself, busying himself with making something on his bed.

This left Molly to pull out the laptop Victor gave her for her thirteenth birthday and pull up a bug she left back at Xavier's Mansion. The laptop was the coolest gift Molly had ever received, and it still worked to peak condition all these years later. Molly sighed softly and pulled out her headphones, plugging them into her computer.

It had been years since Molly had hacked into to X-Men's security system. She used to do it a lot, to ensure the X-Men weren't back to trying to recruit her, and to see how they were doing. Her laptop was virtually untraceable so there was no danger in using it to hack. Victor had been quite the tech wiz.

Molly smiled.

She missed Victor.

Molly pressed her lips together and pulled up a live feed of the room Wolverine was currently in. In the room with him stood Emma and a few other people Molly didn't remember the names of. She hummed and turned up the volume, tuning in to the feed.

"What was that?" Wolverine was asking. Molly reasoned they must have just finished watching the video that Molly left them.

"Well, that girl, Molly ran in. She saved you and babbled about the past. You kissed her, and the two of you shared a 'moment' when Alex came in and interuppted everything. He took control of you, talked about how no one loved Molly but she loved you and that love is weakness. She kicked his ass and saved you again," one of the boys replied in a single breath. Wolverine sent a glare at the kid, causing him to shy away.

"You knew about this?" Wolverine asked Emma. She shrugged.

"I knew that she was Molly, but that was about it. I only read her most recent thoughts," Emma answered. Wolverine angrily slammed his fists down on the main computer.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded.

"She didn't want you to know," Emma replied pointedly.

"Why not?" Wolverine roared.

"It's not my place to say," Emma replied sternly. That was about all Molly could take. She closed the laptop and sucked in a deep breath. She closed her eyes and let her head loll back against the wall. She felt Deadpool's eyes flicker to her at the movement.

Deadpool may not talk to her much but he still cared for her. She knew that but he didn't think she knew that.

"Hey Molls. Are you okay?" Deadpool rushed. Molly nodded, cracking open one eye to look at him.

"Of course I am. Just bored. Do we have any missions to go on?" She asked, jumping up a bit.

"Not now. You need rest."

To that Molly vigorously shook her head.

"I'm not tired. I could take down the Unstoppable Juggernaut with this energy," Molly exclaimed, proving her point by flexing her muscles.

"Mental rest, Molls. You need mental rest," Deadpool elaborated. He got up and walked over to his bed. Molly watched him lay down and roll over before she got up as well, leaving the hut to go outside. A brisk wind swept up, blowing back Molly's hair and making her shiver. Despite herself Molly reached into her backpack and grabbed the only hat she owned. A black kitty hat she used to wear. Without a second thought molly pulled it on, letting it warm her head.

Even with her head now protected from the chill of the wind, Molly was cold. Her tight black leather pants and short sleeved black shirt wasn't doing much to keep her warm. Molly hugged herself tightly and began to bounce restlessly in place.

She felt the need to move, to run, to fight. To do anything. So Molly took off, her black boots slamming into the dirt as she ran. Her hair flew behind her like a cape as she ran, filling with excitement.

She ran into the city which wasn't faraway from where Deadpool was staying. She ran down the street, across the road, into a grocery store, out of the grocery store and then ran right through someone.

Wait. Through someone?

Molly halted in midst of her run and looked back in surprise. Standing there, equally surprised was Kitty Pryde. Seeing Kitty was all it took for Molly to turn into an eleven year old again.

"Kitty!" Molly exclaimed, rushing back over to her with a bright smile. She hugged Kitty tightly and stared at the woman. Kitty wasn't a teenager anymore. She was a lot more mature looking then she had been when she was younger.

"You look so pretty, Kitty," Molly praised softly.

"Who are you again?" Kitty asked weakly. IT had been a long time since Kitty and Molly had seen each other and Deadpool told Molly often that she looked a lot different than she had as a kid. According to pictures at least. Molly never really noticed.

"Molly. Molly Hayes. I was just a kid when you saw me last. With more colorful clothes and stuff," she explained. Kitty stared at her blankly for a moment and then smiled.

"Oh Molly! It's so good to see you! How's the rest of your group? The Runaways did you call yourselves? Oh! And the one with the dinosaur!" Kitty giggled. "Gert!"

"Gert died not long after we first met you guys," Molly replied quietly. She would have gone on, but she found that she couldn't. Kitty was giving her a look of sympathy and seemed to understand Molly's hesitance as she quickly changed the subject.

"So… Is it true?" She asked, smiling again.

"Is what true?" Molly asked.

"Is it true that you-" She poked Molly in the shoulder. "-Saved Wolverine?"

Oh, um, yeah," Molly answered, unsure of what else to say. "It wasn't very hard. Super strength and all."

They both laughed softly.

"But still, I heard you didn't even talk to him afterwards," Kitty pried. Molly shuffled nervously.

"It really wasn't a big deal. Besides I had places I needed to be."

Molly was babbling now, making up excuses, and Kitty wasn't back down from the interrogation.

"Like pointlessly running around town?"

Molly didn't answer that.

"I hear he has gone looking for you," Kitty continued. Molly hummed at that, finally deciding she was done with this conversation.

"Look, I've got to go Kitty. See ya!"

With that farewell Molly went running back to where Deadpool was. She found him outside, playing with his ninja swords and some large fruits. He generally did that inside, demolishing the place.

"Deadpool. Why aren't you inside? Is there a bomb inside about to go off again because this time I would like to know ahead of time," Molly drilled, pulling off her hat to distract herself.

"Nope," Deadpool answered, pretty much ignoring Molly. She stood there for a while watching him and went inside the hut. She closed the front door behind her and leaned back against it with a sigh, staring at the Kitty hat she had crumbled up in her hands.

It represented everything she was. This particular hat was given to Molly by Klara. She loved it from the moment she had gotten it, but now she found herself indecisive about the piece of clothing. Sometimes she wanted to show it off to everyone and other times she just wanted to hide it. She tossed the hat aside carelessly and moved towards the sink.

"Not a kid, not a kid, not a kid," Molly repeated under her breath. She thoughtlessly grabbed one of the plastic cups on the counter and filled it with water from the sink. On the plastic cup was Wolverine, making Molly laugh with a slosh of the water in the cup.

"Wolverine? Really world?" She turned to a fluffy stuffed animal to her right. "Are you trying to tell me something fate?" She joked aloud. She laughed breathlessly for another few moments before taking another sip of the water. It tasted stale and metallic.

"Fate is good at warning people isn't it?" A thoughtful asked from behind Molly. In an instant Molly had a knife pressed to Wolverine's neck. Deadpool had given her the knife once for protection once and it was very useful for scaring people. Molly dropped the blade in surprise and it clattered to the floor. She stared breathlessly at Wolverine, and without taking her eyes off of him she addressed Deadpool.

"Deadpool, why didn't you say Wolverine was here?" Molly called.

"He threatened to unlive me!" Came Deadpool's reply. Molly groaned and closed her eyes in irritation.

"Wolverine's a good guy, he doesn't unlive people and you know that," Molly snapped. Deadpool didn't reply to that but she knew that he was just being cocky.

"He's some good company," Wolverine said dryly. Molly turned away from him, still a little surprised he was here. Sure, Kitty did say that he was looking for her but it should have taken at least a little bit longer.

Molly must not have spoken for a very long time because Deadpool soon came in, flopping down onto his bed.

"We have a mission!" He exclaimed. The statement snapped Molly back into reality, and she sighed a bit in relief, trying to ignore Wolverine's presence.

"Does it require unliving someone?" She asked, jumping up onto the kitchen counter.

"No," Deadpool replied darkly. "But we do get to kidnap the President's daughter for Hydra."

"Isn't that a bit far? Since when do we work for Hydra?" Molly asked. She didn't like to do big bad missions like this, but she didn't want Deadpool to leave her. So in the end she would always just try to convince him not to do the mission.

"Since they offered us money to do it," Deadpool replied.

"Hydra doesn't pay people money to do their dirty work," Wolverine interrupted, his voice low. Molly gulped. What would Wolverine think of her now?  
"Well, no one keeps Deadpool from his money," Deadpool answered darkly. "Especially not in some fanfiction a girl wrote when she was fourteen."

Sometimes Molly just pretended she understood what Deadpool was saying.

"Hydra will just kill you both if you do this for them," Wolverine rationalized. Something pulled at the back of Molly's mind, and it was her trying to remember something from her past. It was something Molly taught herself to recognize a long time ago.

"A telepath is reading my mind," she announced. Wolverine and Deadpool both turned to her and stared.

"How would you know?" Wolverine asked.

"I've trained myself to recognize the feeling," Molly answered. "Is Emma outside? Is she mad because I didn't get Alex? If so… She must be outside."

She said the last part mainly to herself and made her way out of the hut. In the end she was right. None other than Emma Frost was waiting for her outside.

"You're smarter than anyone gives you credit for," Emma said, sounding unimpressed.

"What do you want Emma? I saved Wolverine and I'm planning my attack on Alex. I've done what you asked, now please take Wolverine and leave me alone."

Molly proceeded to glare at Emma, crossing her arms to show her defiance. She knew Wolverine and Deadpool were listening to the conversation, and that made her a little bit uncomfortable but she didn't allow it to control her.

"We could use someone like you on the team Molly," Emma said.

"You know why I'm not joining," Molly stated. She wasn't in the mood to have this conversation again.

"At least let the X-Men help you go after Alex. If he is able to capture Logan then just imagine what he will do to you," Emma said persistently.

"He won't kill me," Molly retorted stubbornly. She didn't need help. She could do it perfectly well on her own.

"How do you know that? What do you think you'll do if we get caught?" Emma asked trying to discourage Molly.

"I _know_ Alex, Emma. Anyways, there is no situation you can't punch your way out of," Molly replied. There was a long silence.

"Don't make me say it," Emma threatened.

"I won't make you say anything," Molly snapped, growing tired of the conversation.

"Don't let your feelings for-" Emma started but Molly decided she wouldn't be listening to her anymore.

"Why does everyone always say that? Why does everyone just assume that they can control me using some stupid hormonal feeling!" Molly burst out, beginning to stomp away. "Deadpool. I'm going to have to skip out on kidnapping the President's daughter."

She called the last part out louder so that he could hear her.

"The President's daughter?" Molly heard Emma ask as the door to the hut flew open. Molly heard some other sounds that she couldn't make out and then Emma said: "Let her go."

Molly was glad that no one bothered to follow her or ask her where she was going, because in reality she had no clue where she was headed.


	6. Matt Murdock

Before Molly knew it she was in New York City. Alone, tired, and confused. Somehow she had walked onto a sidewalk near a road full of fast cars, and under a sky full of tall buildings with bright blinking neon lights.

It was all very overwhelming for Molly. All the people around her. All the lights flashing and blinding her. All of the cars zooming by looking like streams of light. Everything was so fast. Too fast.

Molly felt herself clutch her head in pain and fall to her much. Everything was too much.

Flashes of her with her parents flashed through Molly's head.

_Too much._

Flashes of her with all the Runaways next.

_Too much._

The pain of being alone filled her.

_Too Much._

The empty happiness of being taken in by Deadpool.

_Too Much._

The years of avoiding Wolverine and the X-Men over the fact that she loved Wolverine.

_Too Much._

And now all of this. It was just too much. Molly felt herself curl into a ball and scream out in agony. She didn't care if anyone heard her. It wasn't like they could make it hurt any worse then it already did.

"Too much, too much, too much," Molly repeated quietly as if it would take the pain away.

It didn't.

She hardly registered a low thumping sound near her and stop close to her body. She barely noticed someone crouch down in front of her, yet somewhere in the back of her mind she knew he was there.

"Are you okay?" A mans voice asked gently. Molly sniffed looking up at the man, her tearful eyes making the image blurry. But she managed to see the mans shaggy reddish brown hair and the dark sunglasses covering his eyes. Sunglasses at night?

"Why are there so many lights, and sounds, and it's all so fast. Too fast. And my head hurts and my thoughts aren't straight." Molly paused. "Why does everything hurt so much?"

Tears ran down Molly's flushed face as she spoke, her voice was wavering and her body was shaking. She didn't even care that she didn't know this man she needed help undoubtedly.

"Come with me," the man replied softly, helping Molly to her feet. She watched as the man hooked an arm around her waist, and started moving a cane back and forth in front of him. The low thumping sound started again and he began to move her along.

From this view she could see him better. He wore a short-sleeved unbuttoned collared light blue dress shirt, with a white T-shirt on under it, and a pair of brown dress pants. Judging by the way he held himself he was an important man. He was probably blind, since he had the glasses and the cane, but it really didn't seem like he needed the cane to her. Molly could feel her sanity flooding back into her and she moved out of his helping arm. She did continue to follow him though.

He walked her into a building and then into an apartment.

Molly stood there awkwardly for a moment, knowing she could sit down but a little bit afraid to actually sit down.

"Sit, please," the man urged her, gesturing at a couch in the leaving room. She complied, sitting down and watching him as he put down his cane and took off his glasses. The sight of his eyes confirmed her suspicion of him being blind. They were a pale white blue color.

"I'm Matt Murdock," the man introduced, walking into the kitchen. He pulled out two black coffee mugs. He poured milk into the mugs, heating them in the microwave before he proceeded to empty a package of powder into the cup. From there he stirred thoughtfully with a spoon.

Molly recognized the name from something she had read in a magazine once. He was a lawyer, thought to be the superhero Daredevil. The man with no fear they called him.

"Molly Hayes," Molly replied, watching as Matt joined her on the couch, placing a warm drink in her hands. Hot chocolate with marshmallows.

"The Runaway?" Matt asked her. Molly ignored that, taking a drink of her hot chocolate instead of answering. The drink tickled her taste buds with warmth and the drink slide down her throat. It was creamy, and sweet, and the chocolate was very rich. It was perfect.

"Want to tell me what your problem is?" Matt asked. He was nice asking it. Not persistent, not prying. He was just offering to let Molly put to words how she felt.

So she did. She told him everything. Her entire life story from start to finish and he listened. He took to consideration every word she uttered and didn't speak until their cups were bone dry and every word Molly had to say was out of her mouth.

"How does that make you feel?" Matt asked after a moment. That was an easy question.

"Trapped and scared. My past is coming back and after all the years I spent burying it, it's overwhelming me," Molly explained.

"I understand how you feel Molly. But you can't bury your past forever. It always comes back," Matt said.

"What about.." Molly paused not even sure how to ask it. Or even if she should ask. "Love?"

"Love?" Matt thought about it for a second. "You can't run from love. No matter if your love for someone is unrequited or not. Because when you run, love will simply chase you."

Matt's answer helped. The pain was still there just slowly fading away.

"Thanks," Molly said quietly. People didn't ever really treat her like this. Like an equal. Especially not adults, they always looked down on her. Even after she had become an adult, people looked down on her. She grew up hating adults (for good reason) and now she was one.

She felt odd about it, about growing up but even so she couldn't say she had a bad life. Despite this drama with her past coming back to haunt her, but then again "Pain demands to be felt" (John Green).

Molly sat there for a while, silently reminiscing over the sudden chaos in her life.

"What will you do next?" Matt asked, breaking the silence. Molly looked at him.

"I'm going after Alex." Simple answer.

"Will you kill him?" Matt asked again. His shoulders squared a little bit, and he gave Molly a hard look, as if he was afraid the answer was going to be yes.

"No," it was a fast answer but that didn't mean it was a lie. It just made it more true.

"Why not?" Matt asked curiously.

That one she wasn't sure how to answer. She took a long moment before answering.

"He may have done some bad things, but killing him won't make anyone happy," Molly replied. Matt smiled at that. He then looked away.

"I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear but Emma's right. You should join the X-Men," he stated. "All heroes have room to improve. You need a team, and not just a team. A family."

Molly stared at Matt for a long time.

"I know," she breathed. "Thank you for everything Matt, but I'm going to go now."

MOlly stood up and stared for the door.

"Where will you go?" Matt asked getting up as well.

"Deadpool has a place outside of the city," Molly replied opening the front door. She started out the door and then paused. "Hey, are you actually Daredevil."

A smile grew across Matt's lips and he looked out towards the city.

"Someone has to protect this city."

He didn't say anymore than that. Molly smiled too.

"Good bye Matt. Thanks for everything," Molly said in farewell, and with that she closed the front door.


	7. On The Road Again

It didn’t take Molly a very long time to get to Deadpool’s place. It was a one room hut just like the one Molly had been staying at with Deadpool back by the Institute. The only difference was that this hut was not lived in. It was old, dusty and didn’t have much in it. Molly had been surprised there was even a sheet on the bed.

It didn’t matter though. Molly was tired, exhausted and all she could think of doing was fall into bed and fall asleep. She dropped her bag by the door and stumbled into the dark hut. She fell face first onto one of the uncomfortable beds, her stomach growling and her head aching.

It didn’t take her long to drift into a dreamless sleep.

When she finally woke up, Molly instantly knew she wasn’t alone.

Sunshine shone in through the shuddered windows of the hot, and the air she was breathing was musty. Her back ached from sleeping in a bad position all night, but every hair on her body was on end. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and peered around her room. She didn’t want to alert the intruder that she was awake, but she knew that if they would probably notice no matter what she did.

The hut looked like it hadn’t been disturbed. Her backpack was still on the floor, but the sheets on the bed were falling from her waist as she sat up, which meant someone had covered her for the night. The A.C. was blasting in the background, and all around her were things where they should be.

Then she noticed _him_ sitting on a black chair directly in front of her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Molly muttered, aggravated to know that no matter where she went, he was always able to find her. She had spent years successfully avoiding him, and now he stuck to her like sticky tack. Personally, she could only find reason in herself to blame Alex. It was his fault they were talking again in the first place.

“Not happy to see me?”

He didn’t smile, he didn’t even blink. He kept staring at Molly with an intense look on his face, a look Molly couldn’t rightly read.

“Can’t say it is the best surprise I’ve ever been given,” she retorted. She ran her fingers through her hair, a task that proved to be a chore as her hair was greatly tangled by the turmoil of not brushing it in the past few days. It did however distract her from her situation, which was certainly a comfort. “But what else should I expect. You X-Men are rather persistent I recruiting me, especially when I am not avoiding you guys.”

Molly threw the sheets from her legs and stood up, stretching to her best ability. She had a lot of kinks in her body, and felt sore everywhere.

“Avoiding?” Wolverine asked, a small frown spreading across his rough features. “Why avoid the X-Men.”

Molly froze.

 _Of course._ Of course, he wouldn’t understand that she didn’t want to be a part of the X-Men because of him. Of course, he wouldn’t understand how she hated the way he made her feel and more importantly, how much she wanted to get away from him. Even so Molly couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth, so instead a lie fell from her lips.

“Because all you guys ever do is try to get me to go to your stupid school.”

It had become easier to lie. As she had gotten older, as she had lost the only family she ever knew, as she began to work with Deadpool more and more, lying became easier. By now it was like second nature, she almost didn’t feel bad for lying to him.

Almost.

Molly began to rummage about, making sure she had everything for her trip back to Deadpool. She heard Wolverine stand up and move closer to her but she ignored the noise.

“Is that the only reason?”

He was prying, Molly could feel it. He wanted more, he wanted Molly to spill out the words that she had been hiding for so many years from him. She wouldn’t let him fool her.

“Yep,” she replied without a second thought. She stood up straight again, prepared to leave but instead found herself caught breathless by the proximity of her and Wolverine. They were inches from one another, close enough that if Molly wanted to, she could lean forward and-

She took a step away from him, blushing like a lovelorn fool. She ducked her head and turned away, an attempt to hide the color that had risen to her face. After a moment, she composed herself and began to stalk away, acting as if it was normal for her to just walk away from him as such.

He however did not get the hint and followed after her.

“Where do you think, you are going?” Wolverine asked. He sounded a bit exasperated, but Molly didn’t really care.

“Anywhere _but_ where you are,” she replied. She gave him a forced smile and he returned the favor with one of his own.

“Ah, but we were just starting to get to know one another.”

Sarcasm. It suited Wolverine well, and had to be one of the reasons Molly liked him. Every time he spoke with that tone Molly’s confidence melted away as if it had never been there at all.

“Don’t you know when to leave a girl alone?” She demanded after a moment. She gave Wolverine a hard look. “After so many years, one would think that you would get the memo.”

Wolverine looked a little surprised by her outburst but that did not stop him from smiling at her.

“I don’t listen to others well when it means that I don’t get to do what I want to do,” he replied. Molly glared at him for a long time and the finally turned away, walking briskly without a thought. When she noticed that Wolverine was still following her, she groaned and threw her head back.

“I was right,” she announced. “Wolverine is stupid.”

She heard Wolverine chuckle and he let his hand fall to the small of her back.

“Let’s just get you back to Deadpool,” he stated.

“What makes you think that I am going back to Deadpool?” Molly retorted stubbornly. She didn’t like how much he thought he knew about her. Or more on the dot, how right he was about her.

“Where else would you go?” He rationalized. Molly let her head drop, watching her feet move. Hearing it aloud was like a shot to the heart. He was right. She had nowhere else to go, and she didn’t trust herself with anyone else anymore.

“Where else would I go?” She echoed. Tears began to well up in her eyes and she felt herself blinking rapidly to get the tears to go away.


	8. The Final(?) Battle

When Molly finally got safely back to the hut where she stayed with Deadpool Wolverine left her. Lucklily for her he had been away for two weeks. It seemed to her as if he was finally done chasing her, which she was bothe grateful and remoseful for. Even so it gave her time to do what she had wanted to do for a while, find Alex.

It took her a few hours tops for her to hack into the warehouse he was in. He had strong firewalls up, but Molly knew how to break through the walls either way.

This is how Molly found herself outside of his warehouse, staring up at the building. She had no reinforcments, no weapons, not even a strong will. She knew that it was a bad idea to do this, to just walk into the warehouse as if it wasn’t dangerous.

In theory it wasn’t dangerous. Alex wasn’t a threat, a week of survelliance had proven that. He hadn’t show signs of wanting to kill her before, either way it wouldn’t matter. He only wanted her. It would be better if he got her. Maybe death was a good way for this to end for her.

She strode into the warehouse without a care in the world, knowing that this was a bad idea. She may as well be invincible in this moment.

“Honey?” She called out, once she went over a threshold. “I’m home!”

Her voice echoed off the walls around her. She heard a noise from down the hall and Molly suddenly became horribly self-concious. _What was she doing?_

Her feet stopped moving and she stood there assesing her situation. She was dressed in tight black leather shorts, a tank top, ad a black leather jacket. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her body was shaking lightly.

“I’m in here sweethear,” Alex’s saracastic reply came from down the hall. Molly let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. There was no turning back now.

She began down the hall, everything screaming for her to turn back. Something in her pushed her on, but she didn’t know what it was. She finally arrived to where Alex was and she gave him a sour smile.

“Dead people are supposed to stay dead Alex. You’re smart you should know that,” Molly stated.

“And you know know that the villians always come back. I admit, I was expecting more guests to my welcome back party.”

He tilted his head and gave Molly a slow, creppy grin. He stood by a table covered in various weapons, and in his hand there was a sharp blade.

“Most superheroes have some sort of power,” Molly chided, trying to come off as brave. “But you seem to be lacking in that department.” This made Alex laugh. It was a low menacing laugh that echoed throughout the room. Then immediately before her eyes he began to change. His body morphed, in a way that was so terrifying that she closed her eyes for a minute before opening her eyes again. When she opened them she found herself looking at… well, herself.

“Surprise, surprise. I’m a shape shifter.”

The version of her that was Alex smiled at her and Molly blinked twice. A shapeshifter. Of course he was a _shapeshifter_. Alex turned back to himself, faster then it had taken to turn into her.

“So… Youre a mutant?” Molly asked, decidig the keep Alex talking, deciding to keep the guy talking biding her time. To do what, she wasn’t sure but as a wise man once said _: you can do loads in three seconds_.

“If I’m not a mutant, then I’m a freak,” Alex responded, a creepy smile growing on his face as he shifted into Captain America for a moment, then back to himself. Molly scrunched her nose at him.

“Captain America is not a freak,” Molly snapped at him.

“Whatever you say Molly.” He took on a sarcastic tone, and began to circle Molly, as if searching her for something.

“You are disgusting.”

“A lot of people are disgusting,” Alex chuckled, changing into a multitude of people, one after the other. He turned into her mom, her dad, Deadpool, and lastly, Wolverine. “But you still love them.”

Molly rolled her eyes, attempting to come off as unimpressed, but in reality she was more than so. She had always found shape shifters to be cool. Even growing up with one she still thought they had some of the most impressive powers out there.

“Even though they can be disgusting they are also caring, and they do the right thing when needed,” Molly pointed out, accentuating her point by placing a hand on her hip. “Which is more than I can say for you.”

“Eh.”

Alex dismissed the sentence with a wave of his hand.

“I suppose you’ve come to arrest me.”

A smile crossed his face at that point, and he even added a small laugh. It made Molly angry for a moment. Angry that Alex really thought so lowly of her. She could handle herself, she _had_ handled herself. Alex wasn’t the final boss in her life. If anything he was a side mission. She could do this. In fact, she _would_ do this.

“You need to pay for the things you’ve done Alex,” Molly whispered. Alex just laughed, morphing himself into Wolverine.

“Bite me,” he teased.

Molly took a deep breath, reminding herself of what was important here. The man standing before her was not wolverine, it was Alex.

She ran up to him and punched him square in the chest with all the strength she could muster. The impact sent him flying back into a wall. Apparently an action Alex had not expected because he actually struggled to stand back up.

“You are going to pay for that you little brat.”

His claws slid out from between his knuckles and he charged at Molly. She easily dodged the attack and then grabbed his wrist, hurling him against the wall for a second time.

This time however, he didn’t stay down as easily.

He leapt to his feet and again charged her. She just slid under him, and kicked his back.

_Not Wolverine._

He yelped in pain, and whipped his body around. Now he was even angrier. He pinned her to the ground and raised his fist, ready to pierce her face with his claws. Luckily, Molly was agile enough to pull back her feat and plant them into his chest, launching him towards the ceiling.

 _Just Alex_.

When he came crashing back down, Molly rolled out of harms way and got on his back, punching him a few times to knock the air out of him.

It suddenly hit her as to why she shouldn’t have come alone. It wasn’t because of Alex being too strong for her, or because she would die doing it. It was because she needed to be with the X-Men for her to grow from this experience.

It was all fine for her to come alone and beat him up herself but she wouldn’t learn from it. It wouldn’t teach her to be a part of a group again, or show her to trust people other than Deadpool. It would have gotten her even more accustomed to being alone and she didn’t want that. She wanted to be with others for once.

She got up, and kicked Alex in the side. Then she stood up and made a mad dash for the door. Not her smartest, most thought through plan but she decided that she didn’t want to be so alone anymore.

She wanted a group, and for that, she had a plan. A good plan.

Okay, a terrible, horrible plan but it was still a plan.

She rounded the corner of the facility, and was surprised to see Wolverine standing there, among with a few other X-Men. Knowing that it had to be Alex she charged him, not bothering to wonder how Alex had been able to replicate the other X-Men.

Alex gave her a surprised look, and instead of fighting back he just caught her into a weird tight hug as she ran into him. She was unable to get a punch in, she realized that this was not in fact Alex.

It was Wolverine.

She pulled back form him, eyes blown wide.

“What are you guys doing here?” She asked, slightly breathless.

“We are here to save you,” Wolverine replied. He hadn’t taken her eyes off him since she had run into him. She wondered idly what that meant for her.

“I don’t need saved,” Molly retorted.

“Right, that’s why you just came running down this hall like fleeing a losing battle?”

“I’ll have you know I have everything under control here,” Molly snapped back. She knew what it looked like. Her hair was messy, her nose was bleeding and the state of the rest of her body and clothing was doing less than proving her point. Then of course, Alex should up at the end of the hall, bringing everyone to the attention that there were in fact, two Wolverines.

“There you are,” Alex growled.

Molly sighed heavily.

“Okay so just one thing is a little out of whack, _but_ I basically have things under control.”

Kitty let out a giggle, and when Molly turned to give her a confused look she winked at her.

“I’ve always wanted to take down Wolverine.”

“Same here,” Bobby agreed.

Molly cracked a smile back at the two and rolled her shoulders, throwing her fists back up.

“Shall we get him?” She asked.

“It would be a pleasure.”

“Should I be offended?” Wolverine asked, but he too was in position. At the same time, without a word the group threw themselves at Alex. They had a sort of synchronized dance.

Bobby froze Alex to the ground, Molly punched him up, Wolverine punched him into a wall and Kitty dragged him through a few walls.

It only took a couple of hits to knock him out, and just before he got knocked out he shifted back into himself. Molly didn’t bother with saying any threatening departing words to him. It was finally over. Everything was done.

She didn’t have to worry about him anymore, Alex was taken care of.

Bobby dragged the unconscious Alex up and began to take him out of the building. Molly ran a hand over her face and side glanced Wolverine, who looked like he had seen worse, but still had a lot of questions.

“Want to go grab a drink?” She asked him. He smiled.

* * *

 

Molly didn’t really like bars. She had only ever been to one she liked with Deadpool. It was friendly there, or at least, it wasn’t nearly as dreadful as most were. The smell of alcohol and vomit wasn’t exactly a comforting scent, but still Molly didn’t mind it enough to never go to a bar.

She didn’t even order a beer, much to Wolverine’s surprise it seemed. She just ordered a water, and when he raised an eyebrow to her about it she just shrugged and murmured.

“Dehydrated.”

Which seemed to be a good answer to him. He excused himself to the bathroom, leaving Molly alone, other than a drunk married guy with a brown hair.

Named George, he slurred his words as he introduced himself and called Molly cute. She allowed him to take her hand.

Her mistake she supposed.

Finally done running from all the things she had been scared of in life she had decided to enjoy herself for once. Ask Wolverine if she could really come to the mansion, maybe even explore a new life there.

But George took her hand and he shoved a needle into it.

Her eyes blew wide, and she stumbled away from George, and the unknown drug but it was to little avail. He smiled and his eyes changed color.

 _Alex_.

The world around her started to fade to black, leaving Molly weak in the knees. She looked around for Wolverine but she couldn’t find him. She couldn’t make out anyone in the room anymore, and then she bumped into someone. He grabbed her shoulders tightly.

“Woah, careful there bub.”

“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Molly repeated, but it was the last words she wanted to come out of her mouth.

She wasn’t _fine._ She was anything but fine.

“Wolverine I-“

“My name is Logan,” he interrupted her. “Wolverine is just a title.”

Molly smiled, probably kookily considering the situation.

“Logan-“ It felt weird in her mouth. Like fire on ice. “Logan it’s Alex. He-‘’ Logan was suddenly pushed and Alex was in her face again. Molly went to open her mouth but found she couldn’t move. Her thoughts were spinning around her head like a hurricane, and any good reactions to this situation was gone.

“Hello darling,” he greeted, that stupid creepy smile crossing his lips again. “Don’t worry your pretty head about a thing. We are going to have lots of fun.”

 

_End of Running from Love._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about falling behind with this my laptop broke and I had to save up the money in order to buy a new one. I'm still trying to get back on schedule, but don't worry eventually I will.  
> As you can guess there's a sequel 

**Author's Note:**

> So far this story is only a trial. I have prewritten it and most of its sequel but I don't want to post more chapters until I have it all typed. I however might post the next chapter sooner if I get good feedback. No matter what I will post this story. I really would love feedback and I hope you like this story!


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